Color for Women of Color: Top Tips for Wedding Makeup

Splurging on a professional makeup artist may not be in your budget realm, but it is still possible to perfect your wedding makeup. Although it is valuable to get a professional to make sure your makeup looks perfect on your wedding day, you know your face the most intricately. You know exactly what you like, and what you don’t. Using this to your advantage, just brush up on your application techniques and you could end up with the most perfect makeup imaginable.

Women of color generally have beautiful skin, a canvas for great potential. So where do you begin?

Begin at the foundation:

Finding the correct foundation to match your natural skin tone can be tricky, however it is not impossible. Go explore cosmetic counters with professionals who know about makeup and matching. Don’t be afraid to tell them exactly what you are looking for, and allow yourself to have a few mini test runs. Even if this is just applying small amounts from testers, sometimes unique shades of brown ask for a blend of different colors.

Foundation that has yellow undertones is generally the most flattering. If you have much darker skin opt for a foundation with a subtle hint of blue. For medium-toned skin, foundations with a red-yellow hue work best. A soft golden shade is the most flattering to very light skin.

Gradations of shades make it even more challenging. Some women have differing shades on their forehead, cheekbones or chin. Start by choosing three different shades to test out and see which ones offer the most potential. Test by applying to your jawline, gently rubbing in.

In choosing your wedding makeup foundation, it is important to be mindful of your location. If your wedding is taking place somewhere hot and humid, you may want to invest in a foundation that offers support against the clamminess. Using an oil-free foundation is imperative, especially if you are prone to having oily skin.

A quick tip for applying blush is to steer clear of anything that has an ashy look on your skin. You don’t want your blush to make you look washed out. Lighter skin tones harmonize well with darker bronzers. It is also worthwhile to test apricot, rose and soft shades of pink. For skin tones that are more medium to dark in shade, apply deeper blushes like current, plum and dark rose.

As a universal rule, the darker your skin, the darker you can experiment with your lip color. Deep, jazzy colors like burgundy and blackberry look great on darker skin, and create a dramatic aura. For lighter skin, choose colors more neutral and glossy. A little trick for lower lips that are lighter than the upper is to apply a dark lipstick as a base to the lower lip then apply it over both lips.

A last little trick is to keep a sneaky little bag with you on your wedding day filled with makeup remover, swabs and oil blotting tissues. Have a handy kit where you can reach for the products you need to keep your makeup looking fresh.